Saturday, April 24, 2010

Sweet 16 & been kissed lots

This is Kien's 17th week in the world. As each week passes we notice new things he can do. Since last week he started shifting his weight back and forth when held on his feet. Last week he also went 6 1/2 hours between his dreamfeed and the next feed (the very first time ever). He did however wake up in between that time, but he did self settle back to sleep.

Managing naps are still interesting. His awake time tolerance is stretching out; I am transitioning him from 90 minutes to 105 minutes. It really is a juggling act to make sure he wakes, feeds, burps, has a clean nappy, plays, winds down, and falls asleep all within the allotted timeframe. If I get the timing just right I will get a longer nap from him, but it does mean watching the clock like a hawk and hoping he will fall asleep within the budgeted 15 minute window from the time I put him into his cot. Yes it sounds ridiculous, but it is the only method I know when dealing with a short napper.

We went to visit my parents today. Kien was tired (since he only had 2x 30 minute naps in the morning), but he still managed to give them lots of smiles.

When we got home he went straight to bed, and proceeded to wail; after he had 165 mls he looked like he wanted more, and he was also half asleep. As soon as I put the next bottle into his mouth he was wide awake, and only sucked down another 15 mls. Then he kept smiling at me so I left him in his cot for 30 minutes babbling and laughing to himself. We then got him up and played for 20 minutes before trying for another nap. I finally had to rock him to sleep; after > 3 hrs of being awake all sleep training methodology goes out the window and I do whatever it takes to get him to sleep. So I'm still here sitting next to his cot over 2 hours later, transitioning him through every 20-30 minute jolt (when babies are over tired they wake up at these jolts and can't get back to sleep). At least it gives me time to write my blog :-)

This is a cute little clip. Notice how right at the end he just stops - that is why I have to clock watch, because when he switches off like that he should be in bed. For most babies this is one of their sleepy cues and there is a 5-10 minute window to get them into bed, but for Kien it means the window is closed. I put him straight to bed, and he napped for 30 minutes.